Fire delays opening of donut cafe in West Portal

SAN FRANCISCO ( KRON ) – A fire tore through five small businesses in San Francisco’s West Portal neighborhood on Thursday, leaving the business owners to pick up the pieces.

Georges Donuts & Merriment isn’t even open yet, and now it has had to scale back its first day. Despite the setback, owners are grateful to the firefighters who saved their dream from burning down.

Crews arrived to put out the flames Thursday afternoon on West Portal Avenue near Vicente Street. They worked for several hours until the fire was contained.

However, five businesses, including a salon, law office, comic book store and George’s, were damaged. They’re mostly cleaning up smoke and water damage seeping in from the ceiling and walls.

The donut cafe was set to open this month, but now they have to wait a little longer. Co-founder Lea Dudum says she was actually eating lunch across the street when she saw the smoke between the buildings.

“Since it was a pretty live scene for a while, most of it was closed off, so I know a lot of residents wanted to help, but there wasn’t much you could do,” she said. “So I’m running around getting squeegees and waters, and people were definitely helping me tactically carry those in, which is always very kind.”

Dudum says it could have been much worse and is thankful for the community while they rebuild. Despite the damage to the businesses, thankfully, there were no injuries.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Dudum is hoping to open George’s before she gives birth in November

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.